YOU ARE THE GIFTS
In our first reading from Isaiah, we hear that there will beno silence; there will be no quiet. That you will be called by a new name. You will be a glorious crown in the hand of the Lord. No more shall you be called forsaken; but rather you shall be God’s delight.
But who is this you? For Isaiah, you is the city of Jerusalem, but in light of our readings today, it would seem that God is not referring simply to a collection of buildings, but the people that dwell therein – those claimed by God – those who wish to live in Salem – Jerusalem, which literally translates into the city of Peace. Not peace like everything is on easy-street; but peace like the eye of a hurricane. In the Hebrew tradition, peace is completeness or wholeness. The idea that you have everything you need.
That is to say, Jerusalem is not simply a collection of building, it is the people, it is us. So when Isaiah says, For Jerusalem’s sake, it is our for sake. And when God says you are a my delight: you is you. You are God’s delight.